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Home » 3D Learning Hub » Best of the Sculpteo Blog » 4D Printing: All you need to know in 2023

Contents:

 Introduction
 What is 4D Printing?
 What is the difference between 3D Printing and 4D Printing?
 How does 4D printing work?
 Advantages of 4D Printing
 Potential Applications of 4D Printing
 Current 4D printing research
 Can you start 4D printing?

4D Printing: All you need to know in 2023

Introduction

3D Printing technology has existed for almost 30 years now. Yet, while the Additive
Manufacturing industry is still discovering new applications, new materials, and new 3D
printers, another technology is arising. 
It is called 4D Printing and is coming straight from the future! How do we add the fourth
dimension to 3D printing?  Even if we have previously introduced you to how materials change
shape with this technology, in this blog post we will go together through 4D Printing technology
itself, and investigate its potential and its future applications.
What is 4D Printing?

4D printing is the process through which a 3D printed object transforms itself into another
structure over the influence of external energy input as temperature, light or other
environmental stimuli.
This technology is part of the project of MIT Self-assembly Lab. The purpose of this project is to
combine technology and design to invent self-assembly and programmable material
technologies aiming at reimagining construction, manufacturing, product assembly, and
performance.
In the video above, we see a flat-printed structure that, once placed in hot water, slowly folds
itself into another structure. The video below is a test from MIT Selfassembly laboratory
demonstrating the functionality of shape transformation:  4D Printing: Self-Folding Surface
Cube from MIT Self-Assembly Lab

4D Printing: Self-Folding Surface Cube from MIT Self-Assembly Lab

What is the difference between 3D Printing and 4D Printing?

Obviously, 4D Printing has one more “D” than 3D Printing. What does that mean and why does it
bring so much added value to the technology? 3D Printing is about repeating a 2D structure,
layer by layer in a print path, from the bottom to the top, layer by layer until a 3D volume is
created. 4D Printing is referred to as 3D printing transforming over time. Thus, a fourth
dimension is added: time. So, the big breakthrough about 4D Printing over 3D Printing
technology is its ability to change shape over time.

A 4D-printed gripper grabs an object when the temperature is optimal

A 4D printed object is printed just like any 3D printed shape. The difference is that the 4D
Printing technology uses programmable and advanced materials that perform a different
functionality by adding hot water, light or heat. That’s why a non-living object can change its 3D
shape and behavior over time. 

How does 4D printing work?

4D printing technology uses commercial 3D printers, such as Polyjet 3D printers. The input is a
“smart material”, that can be either a hydrogel or a shape memory polymer. Thanks to their
thermomechanical properties and other material properties,  smart materials are given the
attributes of shape change and are differentiated from the common 3D printing materials.
On the other hand, objects printed with 3D Printing technology, are characterized by rigidity.
That means that the 3D printed objects are going to keep their 3D shape once printed.
Diagram adapted from [F. Momeni et al. / Materials and Design 122 (2017) 42–79], re-drawn by
Jean-Claude André | Scientific Advisor at INSIS

Advantages of 4D Printing

Size changing

The most obvious advantage of 4D printing is that through computational folding, objects

larger than printers can be printed as only one part. Since the 4D printed objects can change
shape, can shrink and unfold, objects that are too large to fit a printer can be compressed for
3D printing into their secondary form.